2 years ago
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Novak Djokovic is looking to a future in which he hopes Covid vaccination status will no longer be significant.
A future in which he stays at the top of the game until his late thirties - a challenge made easier, he argues, by paying obsessive attention to everything he consumes.
The world is already starting to open up to the unvaccinated.
New rules announced in France this weekend mean those arriving from another EU or green list country no longer need to isolate. The French Open beckons.
And it is a similar story in England, bringing a hassle-free Wimbledon into prospect.
Djokovic's problem, at least in the short term, will be the United States of America, where vaccine certificates are required, and there are few exemptions.
So the world number one is very likely to be missing from next month's major ATP Tour events in Indian Wells and California.
And more crucially, if the rules remain in place, from the year's final Grand Slam of the season in New York in August.
Djokovic will play his first tournament of the year in Dubai next week, but the holes in his schedule mean he will almost certainly soon lose his world number one status, a position he has held for a total of 360 weeks.
It also increases Rafael Nadal's chances of finishing his career as the most decorated male player of all time. The Spaniard's Australian Open title was his 21st Grand Slam, one more than Djokovic, and injury permitting Nadal will be able to play in all the year's remaining Slams.
Djokovic's claim he does not have enough information about the Covid vaccine is punctured here by the BBC's medical editor Fergus Walsh.
"It is hard to know what more information Novkak Djokovic wants," he said.
"He continually talks about 'the vaccine' - there are multiple, different types of Covid vaccines."
Djokovic says he is not anti-vax, and it would be totally wrong to characterise him as a man who tours the locker room trying to convince other players not to have the jab.
But he is anti taking this particular vaccination himself, and that stance will inevitably influence others as well as angering people who have taken a vaccine for the common good.
Djokovic's position is at least consistent with the way he has approached his career.
Ever since a litany of physical problems and breathing difficulties hindered him in his early years on tour, the 34-year-old has taken extreme care over his diet and what he puts into his system.
He is gluten free, has cut out dairy, and reduced his sugar intake.
You may mock his belief that the power of positive thinking can turn polluted water clean, but it is what makes him tick, and why he has said he starts the day with a glass of warm water and two spoonfuls of manuka honey.
A follower of the Chinese Body Clock, Djokovic drinks water in the morning at a time our large intestine is said to be removing toxins from the body.
If anyone doubted the world number one's resolve, in the face of a threat to his quest for history, then think again.
Djokovic has underlined his determination and fundamental beliefs - however misguided you may think they are.
English (US)